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Heart Failure Awareness Week Heading

(LONDON, Ontario) – February 10-16, 2008 is Heart Failure Awareness Week and a public education event at London Health Sciences Centre on Wednesday February 13 will offer valuable tools for people living with the condition.

Research indicates an increasing need for heart failure awareness. Learning about the signs and symptoms of heart failure is the first step in protecting yourself from a condition that can seriously impact health and quality of life. Dr. Malcolm Arnold is one of the heart failure specialists presenting at the event.

“Although we are seeing rates of other heart diseases decreasing, heart failure cases are rising in the population,” says Dr. Malcolm Arnold, cardiologist at London Health Sciences Centre. “Heart failure is now the most common diagnosis in hospitals for patients over the age of 65.”

Heart failure is not automatically debilitating. “Through careful lifestyle management and treatments it is entirely possible for someone with the condition to continue living a healthy and active lifestyle,” says Dr. Arnold. “There are many advances in treatment and good health management that can improve symptoms, prolong health and keep people out of the hospital.”

The public information evening will be an interactive session to provide information about recognizing symptoms and warning signs of heart failure. The latest treatments and management options will also be discussed.

Symptoms: fatigue, shortness of breath, decreased level of activity. It is important to recognize the risk of heart failure and discuss these symptoms with a doctor since many of the symptoms are similar to other conditions and not always correctly identified as heart failure.

Risk factors: high blood pressure, diabetes, previous heart attacks, smoking, heart valve disease, family history. As these risk factors become more common in the population, the rate of heart failure is increasing.